Three Architects : A Parisian Plot

By (author) Blaisse, Lionel; By (author) Scoffier, Richard

Located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, the Montrouge bus centre, where the RATP transport company houses and repairs more than 200 busses, is undergoing a complete overhaul. The 1.7 ha industrial site just west of Cite Universitaire is home to three new projects developed by Eric Lapierre Architecture, Atelier Seraji Architectes & Associes and Emmanuel Combarel & Dominique Marrec. Each of the projects explores the full potential of the site, situated between two very different environments. This careful and attentive approach allowed the architects not simply to design a large homogenous building, which might have turned out overwhelming, but to produce a city - a unique city (for Paris is different from New York, which itself is different from Rome), and one which cannot be reduced to a single truth. It contains several parallel worlds masterfully entwined with an infinity of interconnections.